A U.S. District Judge in Oregon has granted a preliminary injunction, immediately halting the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) new conditions that required states to remove references to gender identity from federally funded adolescent sexual health education curricula.
The ruling by Judge Ann Aiken of the District of Oregon sides with a coalition of sixteen States and the District of Columbia that sued HHS, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), arguing the new conditions were unlawful.
The Plaintiff States—including Washington, New York, Illinois, California (whose grant was already terminated), and others—challenged the conditions imposed on non-discretionary federal funding for the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) and the Title V Sexual Risk Avoidance Education (SRAE) grants.
The court found that the Plaintiff States were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that HHS acted:
In Excess of Statutory Authority (APA Violation): The court determined that HHS’s action contradicted the explicit congressional purpose of reducing adolescent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and violated the statutory requirements that the curricula be “medically accurate and complete” and “culturally appropriate.” The opinion stated that a curriculum denying the existence of transgender and gender-diverse people is not “medically accurate and complete.”
Arbitrary and Capricious (APA Violation): The judge found that HHS’s explanation for the change was not a “reasoned decision,” lacked factual findings, failed to consider reliance interests of the states (which had already planned and budgeted for the current school year), and appeared to be a mere pretext for implementing policy objectives outlined in a prior Executive Order.
Contrary to Constitutional Right (Separation of Powers & Spending Clause): The ruling asserted that HHS was attempting to rewrite funding conditions without Congressional authorization, violating the Separation of Powers doctrine. It also noted that the vague definition of “gender ideology” and the attempt to retroactively apply the conditions likely violated the Spending Clause by failing to give states clear notice.
The court agreed with the Plaintiff States that losing the funding—an estimated $35 million across the coalition—or complying with the conditions would result in irreparable harm.
If the funding were lost, states argue they would lose the capacity to provide critical, evidence-based sexual health education to high-risk youth populations, including foster youth, homeless youth, and LGBTQ+ youth, potentially leading to increased rates of unplanned pregnancy and STIs.
If states complied with the new conditions, they would violate state and federal anti-sex-discrimination laws and implement a scientifically inaccurate and culturally inappropriate curriculum, which is likely to harm gender minority students and undermine the programs’ efficacy.
The court’s opinion rejected HHS’s suggestion that states could run “separate-but-equal” programs, stating that this approach not only fails to meet statutory requirements but also “stigmatizes excluded students as ‘other’ and exacerbates suicide and mental health risks for vulnerable students.”
The preliminary injunction is effective immediately and prohibits HHS from:
- Imposing or enforcing the “Gender Conditions” or any similar terms.
- Rescinding, withholding, or terminating PREP or SRAE funds from Plaintiff States based on these conditions.
- The ruling explicitly states that any actions already taken to implement or enforce the conditions against the Plaintiff States are to be treated as “null and void and rescinded.”
The court declined to issue a bond requirement, noting there was “no realistic likelihood of harm to HHS from enjoining the imposition of the Gender Conditions.”
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